Through Thick and Thin
by Avaalon
Summary: Sequel to 'At First Sight'. Annette is back on the Dawn Treader with Caspian, Lucy, and Edmund. As she finds herself fighting her worst fear, she starts to rethink about her and Edmund's relationship. Edmund/OC (Based on Movie)
1. Chapter 1: Reunions and Old Friends

She looked at herself through the mirror. Her hair had gotten longer since three years ago. Her curls flowing down gently just above her waist. She had matured more inside and out. Her dark brown eyes had gotten lighter and her skin a bit tanner from being in the sun.

She braided her hair loosely. She heard screaming outside of her room as she snapped her head towards the door. She grabbed her sword and put it in her sword belt as she wraps it around her slim waist.

"Annette!" She hears Caspian, her brother and new king of Narnia, call her name. Annette quickly ran out of her room.

"Yes Caspian?" Annette asked as she reached the deck of the Dawn Treader. A blur had attack Annette into a hug. Annette pulled away and saw Lucy.

"Lucy!" "Annette!" Both girls embraced each other tightly. Annette pulled away. Her eyes wondering around the deck until it met warm brown ones.

"Edmund," She whispered. He smiled at her. Annette ran into his arms as he hugged her. They pulled away and Edmund place his lips on hers. A few wolf whistles and cheers were heard as they broke away. Annette blushed.

"Get that thing off me! Get that thing off me!" A boy yelled throwing Reepicheep off of him.

"Reepicheep!" Lucy and Annette said in unison, though Lucy's was more of a welcome Annette was a worried yet scolding tone.

Reepicheep saw Lucy and Edmund staring down at him. "Your Majesties," He said bowing.

"Hello Reep, what a pleasure." Edmund said shivering. Annette smiled at him as she wrapped an arm around his torso.

"The pleasure is all mine sir, but first what to do about this-this hysterical interloper?" Reepicheep asked. Annette stifled her laughter at Reepicheep's chose of words as Reep smiled brightly at her.

The unknown boy had had enough, "That-that giant rat thing just tried to claw off my face." He yelled.

"He's got one set of strong lungs." Annette whispered to Edmund who smiled at her.

"I was merely trying to expel the water from your lungs sir!" Reepicheep said trying to explain but Eustace's face only paled.

"It talked! Didn't you see? Did anyone just hear that? It just talked!" Eustace exclaimed as if he was trying to prove a point.

"He always talks." A crew member said.

"Actually it's getting him to shut up that's the problem." Caspian said causing Annette to smack him in the back of the head. Caspian turned to Annette and merely shrugged.

"The moment there is nothing to be said, Your Highness, I promise you I will not speak." Reepicheep answered back, causing Caspian's smile to slip off his face.

"Reep one, Caspian, zero." Annette said making Lucy giggle.

"Well I don't know what kind of prank this is, but I want to wake up right now!" Eustace screamed.

"Perhaps we could throw him back." Reepicheep suggested, causing Annette to glare at him, and Lucy to scold Edmund when he actually started considering it.

"No! It's just a trick! I've been kidnapped by some sort of sea faring carnival!" He began pacing frantically as the crew laughed at him. "I demand to know where in the blazes am I!"

Tarvos the Minotaur came up to him and said in his gruff, deep voice "You're on the _Dawn Treader_, the finest ship in Narnia's navy."

Eustace, having enough when seeing the Minotaur, promptly fainted.

The crew laughed more loudly at the unconscious boy's expense. Annette and Caspian made their way over, they stood next to a bewildered Tarvos.

"Was it something I said?" He asked, his brown bull eyes growing wide.

Caspian chuckled "Attend to him will you?" He asked before walking away.

"Yes your Majesty." Tarvos said before picking Eustace up and throwing him over his shoulder.

"Well we should get you dry!" Caspian announced "But first I believe that introductions are in order." Walking halfway up the stairs to the wheel, he announced to the crew "Men! And Lady," he nodded towards Annette who looked at Caspian with an eyebrow raised. ", behold our castaways! Edmund the Just and Lucy the Valiant. High King and Queen of Narnia!"

All the crew members bowed to them, including Annette who noticed the relief on Edmund's face as he smiled widely at Annette.

Caspian nodded her over. "Yes?" Annette asked.

"Could you show Lucy her cabin; she'll be bunking with you." Caspian said. Annette nodded eagerly before pulling Lucy along. Both girls laughing on the way to Annette's room.

As they entered the room Lucy's eyes roamed around it. "It's beautiful." She sad breathlessly.

"Yup, it's been a bit lonely, but now I have another girl on this ship." Annette said excitedly.

Annette searched through her things. "Looks like you could fit in some of my smaller clothes, sorry no dresses." Annette said. Annette let the room to let Lucy changed but she bumped into Edmund.

"Hello." She said smiling up at him. Even though she had grown she was still short for her age.

He smiled down at her. "Still short I see." He teased causing her to hit him in the chest.

"Shut up." She said trying to act mad but her smile was a dead giveaway. Edmund leaned down, their lips a centimeter apart when Lucy interrupted.

"Annette could you help me fix my h- oh was I interrupting something?" Lucy asked looking between the two. Before Edmund could say anything Annette covered his mouth.

"No," She turned to Edmund, "I'll see you in Caspian's study." She pushed him along and walked in the cabin as Lucy gave her brother a knowing smile and followed.

"Could you help me with my hair?" Lucy said staring at her reflection.

Annette walked over brushing Lucy's hair out. Lucy stared at Annette's reflection for a while.

"Is there something bothering you Lu?" Annette asked in a motherly way.

"No it's just, you're so beautiful." Lucy said slightly envious.

"And so are you Lucy, don't forget that." Annette said with a sincere smile.

She had put Lucy's hair in a side ponytail with a ribbon to give it a more feminine look.

Annette nodded towards the door. "Let's head out, we need to find Caspian." She said as Lucy followed her out.

Caspian led the way to his own private study, where he made most of the plans for the _Dawn Treader's_ voyage. Opening the doors Caspian and Annette entered first, followed by Edmund and Lucy then Captain Drinian bringing up the rear.

Both Pevensie's were still amazed by Narnia, even if they were only on a vessel. Oh but what a magnificent vessel it was. Inside Caspian's study especially, as each inch of wood, glass, or really anything inside was taken into great detail and many hours of hard work. Lucy immediately saw a gold plate with the face of a familiar lion on a cabinet door by one wall.

Touching the face very gently she said "Aslan."

Annette came behind Lucy and turned and pointed to a quiver of arrows. "Recognize those?" she asked.

"Susan's bow and arrows." Lucy said.

Caspian pulled out a box with Lucy's possessions and called her name. She turned and gave a genuine smile. "My healing cordial and my dagger." Stopping in front of him she asked "May I?"

"Of course. They are _yours_." Caspian said and Lucy quickly regained her possession that she had been given by Father Christmas. Her first trip to Narnia seemed like centuries ago, which the truth was considering all that had happened.

Edmund quickly noticed another of his sibling's possessions. "Peter's sword!"

"Yes, I've been looking after it, as I promised." Caspian said walking over and took the sword off its mantel, then held it out to Edmund. "Here, if you wish it."

"No, no, it's yours. Peter gave it to you." Edmund declined politely, but Annette had heard a bit of bitterness in his voice along with the longing look in his eyes.

"Although, we did save this for you." Annette said as pulled out Edmund's now fixed electric torch and tossed it to him.

"And by 'we' she means 'she'." Caspian sent a teasing look towards Annette who jabbed him in the stomach, her face showing innocence until she heard his grunt, she smirked a bit.

"Oh thanks." Edmund said a little unsure. He turned it on and the light went straight to his eye as he staggered a bit making Annette giggle. He playfully glared at her but smiled nonetheless.

Caspian pointed to a drawing of Ettinsmoor. "Since you left, the giants of the North have surrendered unconditionally, and we defeated the Calormen army of the great desert. There's peace across all of Narnia."

"Peace?" Edmund asked incredulously as he slipped an arm around Annette's waist.

"Well we've had some trouble." Annette said cheekily.

"And by trouble she means her fellow suitors." Caspian teased. Annette had noticed Edmund's grip on her waist had tightened.

"But I've refused them all, to airheaded to fit something in their heads besides their ego. Besides I already have my own suitor. It was creating _tiny_ bits of problems for Narnia. Other than that there's peace all around Narnia." She said smiling at Edmund. His grip on her had loosened when he smiled back.

"For the past three years." Caspian added straightening up.

Lucy tucked a piece of hair behind in the flirting way she had seen that girl from before do. "And, have you found yourself a queen in those three years?"

Caspian smiled. "No, not one to compare with you sister." Annette looked at him sadly.

Lucy smiled looking downward and Edmund continued "Hang on, so if there are no wars to fight and no one's in trouble, then why are we here?"

"That's a good question. I've been asking myself the same thing." Annette admitted.

"So where are we sailing to?" Edmund asked looking down at the map.

"Before I took back the throne from my uncle, he tried to kill my father's closest friends and most loyal supporters." He then turned around to a board that was covered in sketches of seven men. "The seven lords of Telmar." turning back to the map Caspian pointed to the Lone Islands. "They fled to the Lone Islands. No one's heard from them since."

"So you think something's happened to them?" Edmund asked looking at the sketches.

"Well if it has, it's our duty to find out." Caspian said solemnly looking at Annette who smiled at him in a proud way.

"Well what's east of the Lone Islands?" Lucy asked.

"Uncharted waters," Captain Drinian said, "Things you can barely imagine; tales of sea serpents and worse." Lucy and Annette looked at each other with expressions that asked _Is he serious?_

"Sea serpents?" Edmund asked in an amused tone.

"Alright Captain Drinian, enough of your tall tales." Caspian said taking a bite out of his apple.


	2. Chapter 2: Sold and Escape

Lucy and Annette walked around the upper deck when they heard singing. Annette nudged Lucy and saw Reepicheep on the dragon's head.

"_Where sky and water meet,  
>Where the waves grow ever sweet<br>Doubt not you Reepicheep  
>To find all that you seek<br>There is the Outer East  
>Doubt not-"<em>

"That's pretty." Lucy interrupted making the giant mouse jump.

"Oh, thank you," He said making his way over to Lucy and Annette, "A dryad sang it to me when I was just a mouseling. I can't define the meaning, but I've never forgotten the words."

"What do you suppose is past the Lone Islands, Reep?" Annette asked him.

"I've been told the furthest East one can sail is to the end of the world. Aslan's Country."

"Do you really believe there's such a place?"

"Well, we have nothing if not belief." Reepicheep said with a bit of hope in his voice.

"Do you think you could actually sail there?" Lucy asked turning serious.

"There is only one way to find out. I only hope I can one day earn the right to see it." With that he returned to his spot on the dragon head.

Lucy looked down into the water and spotted water sprites jumping out of the water and waving, running alongside the ship. Luc waved back enthusiastically before getting up to sit on the railing of the ship to watch Caspian and Edmund's sword fight.

"Who do you think is going to win?" Lucy asked.

"I'm not sure, they seem evenly matched." Annette said. And that they were after their small duel Annette walked up to them.

"You've grown stronger my friend." Caspian complimented.

"Seems I have," Edmund said agreeing.

"And now you can help me finish my training." Annette said smiling at the two. Edmund chuckled and wrapped an arm around her. Caspian stiffened a bit but relaxed when he saw the look he gave Annette, it was the same way he looked at Susan.

"Alright back to work!" Drinian yelled making everyone go back to what they were doing.

Annette and Edmund walked to the railing. She handed him a cup of water.

"Thirsty?" She asked handing it to him as she smiled. He kissed her on the cheek.

"Thank you." He said drinking it.

They joined Lucy as she smiled at them.

"Edmund," Lucy asked making him look at her, "Do you think that if we just keep on sailing to the end of the world we'll just…tip off the edge?"

"Don't worry Lu. We're a long way from there." Edmund said reassuring her.

"Maybe the world's round," Annette shrugged. They just blinked at her, "It was just a suggestion."

"I see you three are still talking nonsense." Eustace said making his way up onto the deck and scowled at the three of them.

Edmund made a face while Annette rolled her eyes. Lucy tried to make nice with him by saying "Are you feeling better?"

"Yes, no thanks to you. It's lucky that I have an iron constitution." Eustace said haughtily, crossing his arms over his chest.

Reepicheep, having come over in time to hear Eustace's complaints, said "As effervescent as ever, I see. Find your sea legs?"

"Never lost them. Merely dealing with the shock of things. Father says I have an acute disposition, due to my intelligence." This last statement made Edmund choke on his drink, causing Annette to stifle her laughter as Lucy smiled at her also trying to suppress a giggle.

Reepicheep leaned in towards the three "I don't think he has _acute_anything."

Eustace, obviously offended, pushed himself off the railing. "I'll have you all know that as soon as we find civilization, I'm contacting the British Consul and have you all arrested for kidnapping."

"What's a British Consul?" Annette asked Edmund and Eustace scoffed.

"Perfect. Delusional and ignorant."

"Hey!" Edmund said stepping threateningly towards Eustace. "You don't talk to her like that."

"Ed, its fine," Annette said trying to calm him; she had had a lot of insults towards her every time she declined a suitor.

"No, it's not okay." Edmund said then turned to Eustace. "Say you're sorry." Oddly enough this was what his older brother Peter had demanded of him when the older Pevensie's had realized Edmund was lying about Narnia the first time they came.

"Why? This crazy carnival kidnapped me!" Eustace said with a huff and turned to run only to bump into Caspian who looked down at him.

"Kidnapping is it? Funny, I thought we saved your life."

"You held me against my will." Eustace protested, only to have Reepicheep and Annette exchanged looks and roll their eyes at him.

"Did I?" Caspian enquired.

"And I must say those are the most unhygienic quarters. It's-It's like a zoo down there!"

"He's quite the complainer, isn't he?" the mouse commented.

"He's just warming up," Edmund commented.

"LAND HO!"

Everyone looked toward the front of the ship to see the strip of land coming into view. Caspian went up to the steering wheel to get a good view from beside Drinian.

Annette squinted looking over beyond and saw a small brown blob.

"If you keep your face like that it you might end up stuck like that." Edmund joked.

Lucy giggled as Annette glared.

"Ha ha ha, very funny Ed," Annette said sarcastically as Edmund rolled his eyes playfully.

By now they could see the island, there were buildings stacked on top of each other. Annette prepared by buckling her sword belt on her waist and carrying her old two arrows in her pouch just in case.

She walked out and stood next to Lucy as the two looked at the island.

Caspian motioned her over.

"I'll be right back Lu." She said as she walked over.

Caspian held the telescope to his eye.

"Strange, not a Narnian flag insight." Caspian stated handing Drinian back the telescope who handed it to Edmund.

"But the Lone Islands always been Narnians." Annette said confused.

Edmund looked through the telescope.

"Seems suspicious," Drinian said not breaking his gaze on the island.

"I say we prepare a landing party." Edmund said looking at Drinian.

Drinian looked at Annette and Caspian.

"Drinian," Edmund said. Drinian looked at him apologetically.

"Forgive me your majesty, but the chain of commands start with King Caspian and Queen Annette on this ship." Drinian said to Edmund.

"Right," Edmund said looking at Annette. She smiled sadly at him before sharing looks with Caspian.

"We'll use long boats." Caspian said walking away.

"Drinian, pick some men and come on shore." Annette added before following him.

"Alright Tavros," Caspian said. Tavros informed the crew to prepare to land. Reepicheep was excited as he jumped onto Annette's shoulders.

"Ready," He said. While being on this ship Reepicheep had been training Annette on how to sword fight.

"Ready," She said looking determined. They prepared two long boats to carry everyone across to the island.

"Onward, the thrill of the unknown lies ahead." Reepicheep said as he stood at the tip of the boat.

As they reached Edmund helped Annette and Annette helped Lucy get off the boat. Eustace had slid over to get off.

"Couldn't this have waited until morning?" He complained. Annette gave and exasperating look at Edmund.

"I feel so bad for you." She said laying her head on his shoulder.

"Me too," Edmund said with distaste.

Caspian led the others up the stairs leading to the town. Lucy frowned.

"Listen. Where is everyone?" She said quietly.

It was completely silent. It was like a ghost town. Reepicheep offered Eustace a hand, but he refused. The boy lost the strength from his legs as he got out and fell onto the stairs. Reepicheep sighed and turned away. The others made a face at the boy. Caspian looked at Lucy.

"And you're sure you're related by blood?"

Lucy made a face at her cousin and kept moving on. Suddenly there was a loud ring from the bell tower. Everyone pulled out their swords and Caspian aimed his crossbows to the city. Annette had her sword drawn but her free hand was over her pouch.

"Reepicheep," Caspian said," Stay here with Drinian's men and secure the place. We'll head on. If we don't come back by dawn, send a party."

"Yes, you're Majesty."

They all headed up and found the place completely deserted. There was no one out in the streets.

"Yeah looks like nobodies in, so do you think we should head back?" Eustace said quickly.

Edmund looked around at the others in annoyance before turning to his young cousin.

"Would you like to come over here and…guard…something?"

"Ah, yes!"

He ran over to them from across the squared they were in. "Very good, cousin. Very um, uh…logical."

They were about to go into the bell tower, but they stopped and looked back at Eustace. Caspian looked at Annette, who sighed and pulled a dagger out of its sheath on her hip and handed it over to the young boy.

"I've got it, I've got it. Don't worry."

They all gave him a skeptical look and then went into the tower, Edmund in the lead with his flashlight. Inside there was barely light shining through the broken roof of the tower. Tons of brass bells were mounted on ropes at different heights across the top. Large statues of kings holding their heads in their hands, as they were disconnected from the rest of the body, were eerily creepy to look at. As they reached the middle of the room, Eustace called to them that he was ready to go when they were. On a stand in the middle, they found an open book. Names were written on both sides and crossed out.

"Who are all these people?" Lucy asked.

"Why have they been crossed out?" Edmund asked.

Annette noticed numbers next to the name and pointed to them.

"It looks like some kind of fee…" she said trailing off.

"Slave traders," Caspian answered.

The bells began ringing making them look up. Less than a second later the other slavers dropped down from the ceiling with ropes propelling them down.

Annette swung her sword at the man in front of her barely missing his neck. Another man grabbed her hand with the sword from the back but she pulled out on o her arrows and stabbed it into his stomach.

It wasn't until a girlish scream echoed through the room that they all stopped. One of the other slavers held a knife to the Eustace's neck. All four of them gave the slaver holding Eustace's a nasty look.

"Unless you want to hear this one squeal like a girl again, I suggest you drop your weapons." the slaver said.

"I'm not a girl!" Eustace protested indignantly, earning him with the knife closer to his neck.

"Now!" the slaver ordered. Seeing that they had no alternative they dropped the swords in anger.

"Eustace!" Edmund said glaring at the boy.

"Put 'em in irons!" the slaver ordered, grabbing Eustace's ear which caused him to cry out lightly. They protested greatly, ordering them to release them but the slavers just laughed.

"Get your hands off me!" Lucy protested while two men roughly shackled her wrists, with Annette who was experiencing the same treatment.

"Let's take these three to the market," the slaver holding Eustace said, pointing to his captive, Lucy and Annette. "Send those three to the dungeons."

"Now hold on pug, I think this one," a slaver said grasping Annette's face with his dirty hand "will fetch a good price in the _other_ market." The other slavers laughed cruelly, sending shivers down Annette's spine. Annette didn't like the feeling of his dirty hands on her and from the look on Caspian's face neither did he.

Annette bit down on his hand. Hard. The slaver pulled back his hand and proceeded to slap Annette across the face hard enough to leave a small bruise.

"Don't you touch her!" Caspian shouted angrily struggling against slavers holding him back.

Caspian, eyes dark with anger when he watched the slavers brutalize Annette. He yelled with rage "Listen to me, you insolent fool! I AM YOUR KING!"

Edmund struggled to get out of the grasp of the slaver's in order to reach his sister and Annette, but the man holding him punched him in the face. The others tried to struggle but it was no use.

"You're going to pay for that!" Edmund shouted.

"Actually, someone else is going to pay," a man with dark skin and an evil look in his eyes said, a malicious smile crawling on his face, "for all of you."

Lucy started to shrilly scream "No! Edmund! Edmund! No! EDMUND!" She started sobbing as they took them away.

"Caspian! Ed! CASPIAN!," Annette screamed as she tried breaking free.

Annette sat beside Lucy, Eustace on her other side. Annette opened her eyes but flinched when she saw the bright sun. She saw a wagon coming by with a man and a little girl running after it. The little girl kept screaming after her mum as her father fought the two other men to get to his wife.

Annette closed her eyes trying to stop the tears from coming she opened her eyes and turned to Lucy who hid her face in her arms.

"Are you alright?" Annette asked her voice hoarse.

Lucy nodded. Annette turned back and saw a green mist taking over the sea as a boat disappeared. She turned her head again as tears began falling.

They were dragged up to a small stage where Annette saw very unpleasant men there. First Lucy was pulled up there.

"I bid sixty!"

"I bid eighty!"

"I bid one hundred for the little lady!"

"One hundred and twenty!"

"One hundred and fifty!"

"Anymore bids?" Lucy sent a horrified look to Annette who was still trying to break out of her chains.

A man put a sold sign over Lucy while yelling, "Sold!"

Annette was pulled up to the small stage next.

"I bid a hundred!"

"I bid one fifty!"

"Two hundred for the lady!"

"Two seventy!"

"No more? Sold!" The man put a sold sign around Annette's neck as she looked at her new 'owner'. He was a tall lanky man who had an unpleasant smile on his face.

"And now for this fine specimen." The man said pulling Eustace up.

A couple of men chuckled.

"Who will start the bidding?" No one said a thing. "Come on now. He may not look like much but, uh, he's strong."

"He's strong all right. Smells like the rear end of a Minotaur." One of the hooded figures said and others laughed.

Insulted Eustace cried "That is an outrageous lie! I won the school hygiene award two years running!" The others laughed, thinking that he could serve as amusement if he wasn't so annoying.

"Come on! Someone make a bid!" The slaver goaded.

"I'll take them off your hands." A familiar voice that made Annette's heart lift with joy said as a hooded figure came forward. "I'll take them all off your hands!" the figure removed his cloak to reveal Captain Drinian with Reepicheep on his shoulder. "For Narnia!" Reepicheep shouted and the rest of the rescue party removed their cloaks to commence the attack.

From a walkway above, one of the slavers transporting Caspian, Edmund and Lord Bern heard the commotion. Looking over the side his disbelieving eyes saw his fellow slavers fighting not only men but creatures as well. Using the distraction, Caspian folded his hands together and swung them against the back of the slaver's head, effectively knocking him out. Caspian pushed another slaver off the side while Edmund with another one.

A man came behind Annette with a dagger but Annette was quicker. She punched him in the face with her chains and kicked him in a place a man should never be kicked in.

Reepicheep attacked the slaver and then went to Lucy and Annette's rescue. "Thanks Reep, I knew you'd come." Lucy said her thanks.

"You're Highness." He said with a bow, flicking Pug's hand with his sword to prevent him from gaining his own sword. Annette stole a sword she found on the floor and began fighting. She saw that some of the villagers were fighting too, she couldn't help but chuckle at the scene.

She quickly looked around and saw a man about to jump on Edmund. She found a bow on a cart and took out her last bow in her pouch. "Ed duck!" She screamed. As he ducked she shot the arrow straight in his heart. She ran up to Ed.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"I should be asking you. Why is it that I always seem to be rescuing you with my arrows?" She asked playfully. They shared a smile before continuing to fight.

They all walked down to the long boats as everyone cheered.

A man came up to them.

"Your Majesty, your majesty!" He yelled.

"Hold it." Drinian said holding him back. Annette recognized him.

"Drinian let him go." Annette said firmly. Both Drinian and the man looked at her in surprise. Drinian hesitated but let him go.

"My wife was taken just this morning," He started as his daughter came by, "I beg you, take me with you." "I want to come with you." The little girl said. "No Gail, stay with your aunt." He said and Annette suddenly felt bad for her.

"I'm a fine sailor, been on the seas my whole life." He said.

"Of course you must." Caspian said patting him.

"Thank you." He said but was held back by his daughter. Annette stopped for a second to look at them. She sighed before walking by Lucy.

As they continued walking an old man came by.

"My king!" He yelled.

"This was given to me by your father. I hid it safely in the cave, all these years." He said.

"That's an old Narnian sword." Edmund said.

"It's from your Golden Age your Majesty." He replied.

"Lord Bern?" Annette asked.

"Queen Maria?" Lord Bern asked breathlessly (**I don't know what Caspian's mom's name is so I made it up!**)

"Queen Annette to be exact." Annette said smiling at the old man, who was gaping at her.

He turned back to Caspian. "There are seven such swords, gifts from Aslan to protect Narnia," He started then turned to both siblings, "Your father entrusted us, here take it." He handed it to Caspian. "And may it protect you." Caspian held it causing more cheering.

"Thank you my lord and we shall and we shall find your lost citizens." Caspian promised.

Annette walked alongside Lucy as they watched Caspian give it to Edmund.

"I think it's because Caspian's too lazy to scrape all of it off." Annette whispered to Lucy as both girls shared amused looks.


	3. Chapter 3: New Crews and Dufflepuds

The next morning Annette sat in her bed reading her book. Lucy was outside using her sewing kit. Annette set her book down and looked outside. The sky was grey and what's a journey on a ship without a storm.

Annette decided to walk around the ship. She looked around and saw Edmund scraping who knows what off of his sword.

"Having fun?" Annette asked playfully. Edmund lifted it to let some light shine on it.

"Depends," He said shrugging.

"Do you need help?" Annette asked.

"No, but I think Lu does." Edmund said pointing at Lucy who was sucking her pointer finger from being stabbed with a needle. Annette walked to her.

"Do you need any help?" Annette asked.

Lucy nodded. "Could you do this side while I do this?" She asked. Annette nodded as they two fell into a comfortable silence.

The silence continued until Eustace came out with a large knife running amuck on the ship.

"Is he mad?" Annette asked Lucy who had her gaze on him.

"Probably," Lucy answered.

As soon as Reepicheep rejoined the scene people became interested.

"Trying to run away? We're on a boat you know!" Reepicheep said running along the rails then swinging on a rope until he was again in front of Eustace.

"Look? Can't we just discuss this?" Eustace tried to talk his way out of it but Reepicheep wasn't having any of it.

Reepicheep sliced a line in Eustace's shirt, revealing the orange building out. "That was for stealing," he then stabbed the orange to pull it out ", that was for lying, and that," he used the orange to slap Eustace "was for good measure." He then discarded of the orange, having Drinian catch it.

Eustace's hand twitched with anger for being struck before he swiped the knife at Reepicheep. However Reepicheep seemed overjoyed by this development. "Hahaha! That's the spirit! We have ourselves a duel!"

"Now come on. Take your best shot!" Reepicheep encouraged. Every time Eustace swung the knife Reepicheep corrected his posture or the way he held his 'weapon'. He even told Eustace to stop flapping his wings like a drunken pelican.

Instead of taunting him, Reepicheep actually seemed to be trying to teach him how to handle the blade, or even going as far as trying to get Eustace to enjoy himself. Incredibly enough Eustace was starting to enjoy this duel. "Be nimble, be nimble! It's a dance boy! A dance!"

When Eustace sliced the knife forward Reepicheep shouted "Again!" Slice. "And again!" Slice. "That's right!" Slice! "That's right!" Slice. "That's-" On the final slice Eustace had the sense to cut across but this resulted in Reepicheep 'falling over'. Eustace looked over the edge to see where he was but couldn't find as much as a ripple in the water. Only when something pointy poked his shoulder did he turn around.

Reepicheep came out of nowhere and pushed Eustace to the ground. "And that…is that!"

All the cheering that had started ended when they heard a shriek from a basket Eustace had knocked over when Reepicheep pushed him. Lucy was the first to come forward and saw a child's arm stick out from the basket.

"Look!" Lucy called out. Out crawled Gail, Rhince's daughter from the island. Annette followed but only to have Drinian give her an orange. Annette raised her eyebrow but held it anyway.

"Gail? What are you doing here?" Her father asked in complete surprise.

The little girl stood up and looked shyly at her father. His stern glance melted at the sight of his little girl, and he pulled her into a hug.

Fortunately, Drinian was a good man as his next words were "Looks like we have an extra crew member." Annette handed her an orange as the little girl smiled at her.

The girl smiled thankfully at Drinian, and Lucy took this opportunity to care for this girl like she had always been cared for. "Welcome aboard." She said kindly, "Looks like we'll need to make some space in our room." Annette said sharing a smile with Lucy

"You're Majesties." Gail said curtseying.

"Call us Lucy and Annette. Come along." Lucy said leading the girl to her and Annette's room

"Come on! Look lively!" Drinian ordered and everyone went back to work.

Edmund came up behind her hugging her waist.

"Oh so now you have time for me." Annette said sarcastically.

Edmund looked at her.

"I'm sorry it's just the swor-" "I'm kidding Ed." Annette interrupted him.

Edmund smiled at her as he played with her fingers.

"We barely have time alone." Edmund said softly looking at her.

"I know," Annette said.

"Annette! Come helps us move some stuff." Lucy yelled.

Annette looked at Edmund. "You should probably finish your sword scraping." She said.

Edmund brushed a slight piece of her hair to the back of her ear. He softly kissed her cheek.

"Have fun love." He said smiling as he walked away.

Annette ran to her room and helped Gail and Lucy move their stuff.

"Annette!" Caspian's voice rang through the room.

"Oh what know?" Annette exclaimed throwing her hands up in the air.

"It must be hard being a queen." Gail said. The three had become much closer.

"You don't know the half of it." Annette said closing the door and running up deck.

Caspian handed her a telescope. Annette looked though the eye hole. She saw a very green island that looked as if nothing's been there.

"It looks uninhabited." Annette stated handing it back to Caspian.

"But if the lords followed the mist east they would've stopped here." Caspian said holding to his eye. Edmund had joined by Annette's side.

"Could be a trap," Drinian said.

"Or it could hold some answers. Caspian?" Edmund said/asked.

"We'll spend the night on shore," He said handing the telescope back to Drinian and looked at Annette, "and scour the island in the morning." Annette nodded at him. Caspian nodded back before walking off.

Annette went back to her room to grab her blanket and a nice book.

"Come on girls, we're sleeping on shore tonight." Annette said to the Lucy and Gail.

Annette read by the fire while everyone laid peacefully. Edmund laid next to her staring at the stars.

"The stars have the same twinkle like your eyes." Edmund whispered. Annette turned to him and smiled. She closed her book placing it next to Lucy and laid next to him.

"Goodnight Ed." Annette said yawning slightly.

"Goodnight Annette." Edmund said before dozing off.

Annette woke up and stretched. She looked at Edmund and saw him peacefully sleeping. She looked or her book next to Lucy only to find a giant footprint next to her, her book opened, and Lucy missing.

"Lu," She whispered, "Lucy! Edmund wake up! Lucy!" She screamed shoving Edmund awake.

Caspian woke up and looked around.

"Everybody up," Drinain yelled. All the crew members woke, their weapons drawn.

"Lucy!" Annette yelled.

"This way." Caspian said leading the way. Gail grabbed Annette's hands as they followed Caspian.

"Stay close Gail." Annette warned. Gail nodded.

They walked through a field full of weird tree sculptures looking suspiciously at everything. Annette had her sword drawn as Gail hid behind her looking out.

Annette spotted something on the ground.

"Caspian, Edmund, Lucy's dagger." Annette said picking it up as Caspian and Edmund walked closer. They crew started circling around them when a few sticks were thrown at them. Gail whimpered as Annette drew her sword higher.

"Stop right there or perish," A gruff voice was heard. Caspian's sword was taken right out of his hands.

A surge of pain hit Annette's stomach as she fell down.

"Annette," Gail gasped helping the older girl up.

Whatever it was disarmed the crew.

"What sort of creatures are you?" Caspian said out loud talking to nothing.

"Big ones," the leader said.

"Scary ones," another voice added.

"With the head of a tiger, and the body of a…" the first voice started.

"A different tiger!" the second voice finished for him.

"You don't want to mess with us!"

"Or what?" Annette challenged as she got up.

"Or we'll claw you to death!" one of the voices threatened, right as they started to appear in front of the Narnians. The creatures threatened them more Annette bursted out laughing Gail giggling.

These creatures were the furthest thing from intimidating. They hopped on one leg, with enormous feet. They were short, and so in order to make them seem taller, they stood on top of each other.

"You mean squash us with your fat bellies?" Edmund said sarcastically in response to their threats.

"Or perhaps tickle us with your toes?" Caspian joked.

"Yes, you are very intimidating." Annette said sarcastically through her laughter.

The Dufflepuds hopped off of each other and fell to the ground at the sight of the Narnians advancing on them. Edmund rounded on the chief immediately. "What have you done with my sister you pipsqueak?" he growled.

"Now, calm down," the Chief Dufflepud said, shaking in fear of Edmund's sword.

"Where is she?" he shouted.

"You better tell him!" One Dufflepud said fearfully.

"Go on Chief." Another agreed.

"She's in the mansion!" another Dufflepud told him.

"What mansion?" Edmund questioned, looking around. There was no mansion in sight.

"Oh, that mansion," Edmund said, right as the doors opened and Lucy stepped out with a man who was wearing a long pair of robes.

"You know I'm really getting tired of you all leaving me behind!" Eustace proclaimed as he and Radcliff walked through the bushes only to stop short at the sight of the Dufflepuds.

"The pig's come back!" One of the Dufflepuds said.

"This place just gets weirder and weirder." Eustace said. "The Oppressor!" the Dufflepuds shouted once they spotted Coriarkin the Magician walking with.

"Your majesties," Coriarkin said as he bowed to Caspian, Annette and Edmund.

"Caspian, Annette and Edmund." Lucy introduced. "This is Coriarkin, it's his island."

"That's what he thinks!" the Chief Dufflepud shouted. "You have wronged us magician!"

"I did not wrong you. I made you invisible for your own protection." Coriarkin said as he walked towards them, and the Dufflepuds hopped away from him.

"Protection? You lie oppressor!"

"I have not oppressed you," he sighed, but the Dufflepuds would not believe him. "Be gone!" Coriarkin said and threw his hand out. White stuff flew out of Coriarkin's hand and the Dufflepuds finally hopped away, leaving them free to talk by themselves.

"What was that?" Lucy asked Coriarkin.

"Lint, but don't tell them that." he laughed.

"What were those things?" Eustace asked.

"Dufflepuds." Coriarkin answered already heading back to the mansion.

"Right, of course. Silly me." Eustace muttered following them.

"What did you mean when you said you made them invisible for their own good?" Annette asked Coriarkin as he led them into one of his libraries.

"It seemed the easiest way to protect them," he answered, "from the evil," he then added after seeing their confused faces.

"You mean the mist?" Edmund questioned.

"I mean what lies behind the mist." Coriarkin said as he walked across the room.

He grabbed a large scroll off of his desk and then tossed it in the air. It unrolled and before them was a map of the entire sea, with moving waves and white clouds above it.

"It's quite beautiful." Eustace said. The map showed a small portion of a centaur blowing a horn, and an excerpt from the Battle of Beruna. When he saw the questioning looks on everyone's faces, he corrected "I mean for a make believe map of a map believe world."

"There is the source of your troubles: Dark Island and its mist. It can take any form. It can make your darkest dreams come true. It seeks to corrupt all goodness. To plague Narnia to darkness, to steal the light from this world." Coriarkin told them.

"How do we stop it?" Lucy questioned.

"You must break its spell." he told them while walking over to Edmund.

"That sword you carry, there are six others just like it." he told him.

"Have you seen them?" Edmund asked, and the magician nodded.

"Six lords, did they pass through here?" Caspian asked, starting to realize everything.

"Indeed," Coriarkin answered, as he walked across the map and over to Caspian.

"Where were they headed?"

"Where I sent them." As he said this, the map under his feet started to change its picture and head east. "To break the spell you must follow the blue star to Ramandu's Island. There the seven swords must be laid at Aslan's table. Only then can their true magical power be released. But beware, you are all about to be tested." he warned, looking each of them in the eye.

"Tested how?" Lucy asked.

"Until you lay down the seven swords, evil has the upper hand. It will do everything in its power to tempt you. Be strong. To defeat the darkness out there, you must defeat the darkness inside yourself."

"We must go now. There's not much time." Annette advised.

"She is right. Hurry. Your quest will not be easy," Coriarkin agreed.

"Thank you, sir, for all of your help," Lucy thanked him.

Coriarkin bowed in response. "Good luck. Do not let the mist tempt you. And remember, be strong." he said again.


	4. Chapter 4: Dragons and Confessions

A storm came that night as Annette was trying to help a sailor get rid of all the water and throw it back into the sea on the upper deck. Caspian struggled to walk towards her.

"Get back in your room Annette; you're going to get yourself sick." Caspian yelled over the chaos.

"Speak for yourself." Annette yelled back throwing the water out of her bucket.

"Lucy and Gail need you, now go!" Caspian yelled yanking the bucket away from her.

Annette glared before walking back to her room.

She saw Lucy trying to comfort a crying Gail.

"Oh Gail," Annette said softly before gently embracing the small girl.

"Ew, you're wet." Gail complained making Annette and Lucy laugh.

Annette changed into a clean pair of close as she laid in bed reading a story to Gail. Lucy was brushing her hair while listening. It was about the great Aslan himself and the two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve.

Annette laid in the middle of Lucy and Gail sleeping soundly. A voice entered her head, a familiar voice.

_"You'll never be like me,"_ It said, "_You'll never be the Queen I once was." _

Annette's eyes shot opened as Lucy shouted, "Aslan." Lucy looked over and saw Annette staring at her with wide eyes.

"Lucy?" Annette asked sitting up. Lucy embraced Annette. Annette hugged Lucy rubbing her hand on Lucy's back for comfort.

"It was just a dream Lucy," Annette said but she was as unsure as she sounded.

Lucy pulled away and pulled out a piece of paper out of her gown. She rolled it up in a ball and threw into the fire.

"Goodnight Annette." Lucy said before going back to sleep as Annette laid back down confused.

A green mist encircled around Annette as she slept. It flowed back to the ground forming a shape of a woman.

"_Annette_," It whispered. Annette slowly got up, her eyes widened as she backed up to the headboard of the bed.

"_My dear child_," It whispered softly before its voice turned harsh. Its form became clearer and Annette realized it was her mother.

"Mum," Annette whispered.

"_Look at you, trying to my place as Queen. You can't even take care of yourself let alone a kingdom_," Her mum said harshly. Annette glared at the figure.

"_I can take care of myself_." She said through gritted teeth.

"_Hah, can't find yourself a nice suitor, instead you fall in love with a boy whose not even rom your own world_." It said smirking at her.

"_And what does that have to do with anything_?" Annette asked.

The figure walked closer. Annette looked at Lucy and Gail to find them not there.

"Lucy? Gail! What did you do to them?" Annette yelled.

"_You know, deep down inside, he's not going to stay forever. He'll have to go back to his own world, leaving you heart broken. My poor baby. It's not like he loved you anyway_." It cackled.

"He loves me, I know he does." Annette said her voice cracking. She knew it was right, Edmund would not stay forever.

"_Has he told you_?" It paused waiting for an answer but got nothing. "_So he hasn't, such a disappointment. Not only will you be heart broken and a terrible queen, but you'll be a burden to poor Caspian_." It said looking at her straight in the eye.

"NO!" Annette shouted as she shot up from her place. She looked around, no green mist. She looked beside her. Gail was sound asleep but Lucy was looking at her.

Annette narrowed her eyes around the room. "Something's going on." She said.

"I'll stay here with Gail." Lucy said knowing Annette wanted to go see Edmund.

Annette nodded and walked out of the room. No matter how many times she'd deny it, she knew Edmund wasn't going to stay forever.

Annette walked down to where the men were sleeping. She found Edmund looking at something but she didn't see what. She walked closer but flinched when Edmund brought his sword out.

She placed a hand on his shoulder as he turned to face her with his sword in front.

"Edmund." She said breaking him out of his trance.

"Annette?" He asked squinting. Caspian shot up.

"If you keep it up your face might be stuck like that." Annette said repeating what he told her.

"Let me guess bad dreams?" He asked ignoring her statement, "So we're either going mad, or something's playing with our minds."

"I was wondering if I could sleep with you." Annette said shyly. Edmund was glad it was dark because right now he was blushing hard.

Caspian glared at him. Although he knew Edmund was a good guy, Annette was still his little sister.

He scooted himself over and Annette laid her head on his shoulder as his arms wrapped themselves around her waist.

"Good night." They said in unison. Annette lifted her head up to face Caspian.

"Goodnight Caspian." She said with a small smile which he returned.

The next morning Annette stood at the railing watching the water.

"Annette?" She heard. She spun around and came face to face with Edmund. Her breath got caught in her throat. She cleared it and took a step back.

"Yes Edmund?" She asked. He took a step closer.

"You've been avoiding me." He stated.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." She lied through her teeth.

"Annette!" Caspian yelled.

She gave Edmund a last glance before heading towards Caspian.

They sat in boats that rowed to a barren, dry island. "I doubt the Lords stopped here my liege. There's no sign of anything living!" Reepicheep said from one of the two boats sent to the shore. He, Caspian, Edmund, Lucy, Annette and Eustace had decided to go on the island and explore.

"Right, well once we get ashore take you men and search for food and water. The four of us will look for clues." Caspian ordered.

"Hang on, you mean the five of us." Eustace said, causing everyone to stop rowing and look at him in shock. "Oh come on; _please_ don't send me back to the rat."

"I heard that!" Reepicheep called from the other boat.

"Big ears." Eustace muttered.

"I heard that too!" Reepicheep shouted again, causing the others to chuckle.

Once on shore Eustace separated from the others without their knowledge, and the original four went off without him.

"Look! We're not the first ones!" Annette said when she saw some gold and a rope tied around a rock that drooped in a hole leading to an underground crevice.

"The Lords?" Edmund asked.

"Could be." Caspian said stepping over the rope. He then threw a rock in the hole to see how deep it was before saying "What do you think is down there?"

"Let's find out." Edmund said before climbing down into the hole.

"Be careful." Annette said and he smiled gratefully. Edmund continued climbing down, keeping a tight grip on the rope before landing at the bottom. When the others saw that it was safe they clambered down as well. Edmund walked around an underground pool when he saw a golden statue just below the surface.

"What's that?" Caspian asked once he, Lucy and Annette joined him.

"I don't know. Looks like some sort of gold statue." Edmund said. He then tore a branch from the wall and dipped the tip into the pool to test it. When he brought it out the stick starting to turn into gold, which meant that it became incredibly heavy, so heavy that he was forced to drop it into the pool before it took him with him.

"He must have fallen in." Caspian observed.

"Poor man." Lucy said.

"You mean poor Lord." Annette said once she spotted the shield near him.

"The crest of Lord Restimar." Caspian said looking down. They were too late.

"And his sword." Edmund pointed to the sword which was underwater.

"We need it." Caspian said.

"But how are we going to get it without turning to gold ourselves?" Annette asked. Edmund had that already figured out as he pulled out the sword Lord Bern had given them and used it to bring up the sword, remarkably without turning to gold. Caspian held onto Edmund's shirt to make sure he didn't fall in.

"It hasn't turned to gold." Lucy said, happy that neither sword had changed.

"I suppose it's because the swords are magical." Caspian said taking the sword of Lord Restimar.

"He mustn't have known what hit him." Lucy said.

"Maybe…" Edmund said kneeling down next to the pool. "…or maybe he was onto something."

"What are you talking about?" Caspian asked suspiciously.

Edmund didn't answer. He picked up a shell, dipped the tip of it into the pool then put it on the rocks, watching in fascination as it turned completely to gold. He then picked it up and looked at it with an obsessed look in his eyes.

"What are you staring at?" Lucy asked not liking the look in her brother's eyes at all.

"Whoever has access to this pool, could be the most powerful person in the world." Edmund said turning his head to his sister. "Lucy, we'd be so rich. _No one_ could tell us what to do, or who to live with."

"You can't take anything out of Narnia Edmund." Caspian said losing his patience.

"Says who?" Edmund asked retuning his gaze to the shell.

"I do." Caspian said with finality, causing Edmund to look at him with loathing in his eyes.

Picking up his sword Edmund said "I'm not your subject."

"You've been waiting for this, haven't you? To challenge me, you doubt my leadership." Caspian said, and Annette was surprised. This was a part of Caspian she had never seen before.

"You doubt yourself."

"You're a child!"

"And you're a spineless sap!"

"Edmund!"

"Caspian!" The girls tried to stop the boys but they shrugged them off.

"I'm tired of playing second fiddle!" Edmund shouted. "First it was Peter. And now it's _you_! You know I'm braver than both of you! But why do you get Peter's sword?"

"Then why do you get to have Annette? Do you really plan on taking the only family I have left?"

Edmund chuckled mercilessly. "Do you really think I could have her all to myself. She's been avoiding me! You can't even protect her from her _suitors_"

"You know why I think you're so against it? It's because you're jealous of them?"

"Jealous?"

"Yes, because she will be happier with them than she would with you, you want to know why? Because _they were_ _there_! When you weren't. She stayed cooped up in her room, waiting for your return. You don't deserve her."

This was the last straw for Edmund. "Shut up! You don't know anything nor do you deserve anything! I deserve a kingdom of my own! I deserve to rule!"

"Well if you think you're so brave…prove it!" Caspian pushed Edmund immediately attacked and they would've gone into a battle to the death if Lucy had not stepped in, literally.

"Stop it! Both of you!" Lucy shouted at both of the boys.

"Looks at yourselves! Can't you see what's happening? This place has tempted you. It's bewitching you! This was exactly what Coriarkin was talking about. Let's just get out of here." Annette said walking away with Lucy and climbed out of the cave.

Caspian followed suit, hoping that he could explain things to her, leaving Edmund the last to leave. He looked at the shell in his hand before tossing it in the water, regretting that he had ever picked it up.

"What food did you find?" Caspian asked, though he didn't expect much once he caught sight of the nearly empty baskets.

"It's volcanic, Your Majesty. Not much grows." Rhince told him, looking disappointed at the poor find.

"Where's Eustace?" Lucy asked looking around the shore, but Eustace was nowhere to be found.

"I believe he's out _not_ helping us load the boat." Reepicheep said from his place on the boat.

"Eustace! Eustace!" Lucy called out, but no answer came. "Edmund, I've got a bad feeling."

"I'll go find him." Edmund sighed, obviously tired of having to run after his obnoxious cousin.

"I'll come with you." Caspian offered, causing Edmund to stop for a moment

"Annette, are you alright?" Lucy asked looking at the sad look on her friend's face.

"I'm only avoiding him because I know he won't stay forever." Annette said quietly.

"What gives you that idea?" Lucy asked amusingly.

"A dream," She said. '_or nightmare_,' She thought.

The two girls got back onto the _Dawn Treader, _Annette standing next to Drinian.

Up top everyone heard the dragon roar as well, and all eyes were drawn to the island. Lucy turned to Drinian and asked "What was that?" Suddenly a flame shot directly into the air.

Gail looked up at Drinian "Was it the volcano?"

Drinian said gravely "Oh no, that's no volcano. All hands on deck! Archers, arm yourselves!" He shouted as something raced towards them at inhuman speed. Soon enough a dragon was seen on the horizon and in the blink of an eye a huge tan dragon circled the ship, but did not attack. "You to your majesty." He said to Annette handing her bow and arrows.

She took them eagerly and walked up to the other archers.

"I'm back." She said after placing a kiss on her bow.

"Hold you positions and wait for my command!" Drinian shouted as the dragon perched itself on the mast, adding its weight to it and beginning to break it.

"What's it doing?" Lucy shouted whilst holding Gail. The archers took their aim and on Drinian's command fired. This hurt the dragon but it also did damage to them as when it squirmed in pain it shook the mast even more.

"Right!" Reepicheep announced putting his sword in his teeth and scurrying up the mast until he came upon the dragon's claw. The dragon had only been able to hold on using one claw until Reepicheep drove his sword in between the knuckles, forcing him to let go and fly off. But not for long.

On the ship when Lucy and Annette saw what the dragon was holding they screamed "Edmund!"

"Lucy! Annett!" they heard him shout back. He tried struggling against the beast but it refused to let him go.

News had spread about Eustace's transformation, and soon nearly everyone was on the shore.

"He must have been tempted by the treasure," Edmund explained.

Meanwhile, Eustace the dragon sat behind them, scratching his arm against the ground, trying to remove a gold bracelet that was far too tight for his wide arms.

"Well, everyone knows a dragon's treasure is enchanted," Caspian said. At this, Eustace stopped trying to get the bracelet off and growled at Caspian. "Well, anyone from here." Annette corrected Caspian, sending an apologetic look towards Eustace.

Lucy stepped forward and made a gesture to help remove the bracelet. They watched as the youngest Pevensie slowly took the bracelet in her tiny hands, and then she gave it a hard yank, pulling the bracelet clean off of the dragon's arm, resulting in a loud roar escaping his mouth.

"Is there any way to change him back?" Edmund asked Caspian, who looked to Drinian for answers, but the captain just shook his head.

"Aunt Alberta will not be pleased." Edmund said, still trying to make a joke even in this dim situation, earning a glare himself from Eustace.

"Sorry about the hand, old boy." Reepicheep apologized. "I can be a little overzealous at times."

"The boats are ready sire!" Tavros announced then, and they all looked around at each other.

"We can't leave him," Lucy said, looking straight at Caspian. Only he had the power to decide what they did.

"Drinian, you take one of the boats back and we'll stay here and try to sort things out." Caspian responded to her plea.

"But your majesty, you'll have no provisions, and no way of staying warm." Rhince interjected.

At that, Eustace looked around, before breathing out deeply and setting a fire on a couple of sticks that lay on the beach.

"You were saying?" Reepicheep joked, causing everyone to laugh.

Before they went to bed Annette walked up to Caspian. "Is that how you feel, I spend most of my time with Edmund and not you?"

"Sometimes, yes," He answered.

"You know, Edmund will have to go back to his own world. I'm only trying to spend as much of my time with him as I can, but I sometimes feel that he doesn't love me as much as I love him." She admitted.

"Well whatever the case is, I'll be there for you." Caspian said genuinely as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Little did they know Edmund had listened.


	5. Chapter 5: Spells and the Blue Star

**Hey guys quick A/N: *sighs* I need more reviews! Don't think I don't know about you guys putting it as your favorites or story alerts! I get them in my e-mail! Anyways! Here's the next chapter….**

Annette slept peacefully knowing Caspian was sticking to her side no matter what.

The sun slowly rose as Gael (**How I was supposed to spell it…**) shook the two girls up.

"Lucy, Annette, Lucy," She whispered waking them. Annette sat up straighter as she followed Gael's gaze, "Look." She pointed towards the sky. Annette saw a shimmering blue star floating in the sky.

"It's the blue star." Annette said excitedly.

"Everybody! Everybody wake up! It's the blue star." Lucy shouted. Annette got to her feet.

They got back on the boats (Eustace flying) and Annette watched the blue star from her seat on a barrel. Edmund walked quietly up to her.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" He whispered making Annette jump and snap her head at him.

"Oh, hello Ed," She said before turning back. He wrapped one arm around her waist making her blush.

"Do you think the rest of the swords are at Ramandu's Island?" He asked.

"Well of course, where do you suppose they are?" She said looking at him. He turned to look at her intently with his dark brown eyes. All her fears melted away as she stared back.

She looked away and cleared her throat. Caspian looked over at them and motioned them over.

"The wind is lacking," Caspian stated.

"So how do we get to Ramandu's Island now then?" Edmund asked.

"Or something doesn't want us to get there." Drinian said walking back to the wheel.

"I've also wanted to steer the wheel." Annette whispered making Edmund and Caspian give her weird looks.

"What? Oh like you've never wanted too." Annette said waving them off.

Annette walked up to Drinian, though he may be a toughie, Annette liked having his company around.

Some of the crew were complaining about the lack of food.

"If we don't find land tonight, we might as well eat the-" Drinian was cut off when the ship tilted. Annette had landed on her butt making Caspian laugh at her despite how he had landed. She did the most mature thing she had thought of; she stuck her tongue out at him.

The crew looked up and saw Eustace pulling the ship faster with his tail.

"Eustace that's brilliant!" Annette yelled causing Eustace to look back and make some sort of noise Annette could not understand.

The entire crew cheered for Eustace.

Annette walked into her room and saw Lucy braiding Gael's hair.

"Trying to be like me?" Annette teased lifting her loose braid. Gael giggled.

"I want to be just like you when I get older." Gael said looking at Annette with admiration. Annette looked at Gael with a serious expression that made even Lucy stop what she was doing.

Annette then turned to face the window.

"You were born an original, don't become a copy." Annette said.

Gael didn't seem to understand it but Lucy did.

"Annette!" Caspian yelled.

"Oh for goodness sakes," Annette exclaimed as she retied her hair. Lucy and Gael giggled in amusement.

Annette ran all the way up to the upper deck where Caspian and Edmund were waiting. He handed her a telescope. She saw a giant green island, with plants encircling it, little waterfalls coming out of the island.

"Definitely Ramandu's Island," Annette confirmed handing it back to Caspian.

The crew headed to the long boats.

Edmund led the way up the mountain, lighting their path with his torch, and they walked with near ease through the island to get to the top, almost like someone was creating a path for them. Once they reached the top of the mountain, they came to a ruin, in which lay a table filled with delicious plates of food. It was a feast that none of them had ever laid eyes on before.

After having short amount of food the crew dove right in. Annette caught the sight of something moving so she drew her sword.

Drinian, seeing Annette pulling her sword out for warning, yelled, "Wait." As Captain they listened and stopped.

Drinian nodded at Annette and Annette looked at Edmund.

"Ed, could you shine the light over there." Annette said pointing to where vines and leaves entwined. He lashed it over there and saw three people sitting still as they were covered in dead branches and vines.

The crew drew their weapons and waited. But they didn't move, the crew slowly put their weapons away. Annette lowered it but still kept it in her hand.

They stepped carefully towards them, and were only able to see their hands at first, which were withered by age and travel, causing wrinkles to form and calluses to show.

Caspian examined the rings that each of the men were wearing, and used his sword to point to a ring that rested on one of the six hands on the table. "Lord Revilian." Leaning closer he identified the other two men as "Lord Mavramorn, Lord Argoz."

Lucy gently brushed the hair out of Lord Argoz's face, not expecting to see his eyes wide open. She gasped and backed away. Caspian stepped around the table to inspect him and heard a shallow breath come from him.

"He's breathing." Caspian added.

"So are they." Edmund told him, nodding to the other two Lords. Their beards were rising and falling in accordance to the force of their chests.

"They must be under a spell." Annette added.

Annette looked around to see if there was anything. She saw a plate with let over grapes on the ground. "It's the food!" she shouted in warning, causing the crew members to drop whatever food they had raised to their mouths.

Edmund flashed his 'torch' at the table. "Hey it's the Stone Knife! This is Aslan's Table!"

"Their swords," Caspian whispered and with the help of Edmund, Lucy, and Annette hurriedly grabbed the swords from the lord's sheath and from their own and placed them all together on the table. However there was one problem.

"That's six." Edmund pointed out.

"There's still one missing," Annette said.

Then, under the crew's watchful gaze, the six swords glowed blue, and then the blue light grew from the swords and filled up the entire room.

"Look!" Lucy's voice shouted as she was stared up at the sky. The others followed her gaze to see the blue star, the one that had led them here, floating down towards them.

The entire room filled up with the bright blue light and then, standing before them in the spot where the star had been floating seconds before, was a beautiful woman dressed in an all-white gown. She had pale skin and even paler hair, and she was surrounded by the bright, blue light, which reached to each of the Narnians and spread warmth throughout their bodies.

"Travelers of Narnia, welcome." she said to them with a smile. The Narnians bowed in presence, knowing without knowing how that there was a very important figure standing in front of them.

"Arise. Are you not hungry?" she then asked as she looked between the crew and the untouched food.

"Who are you?" Edmund asked her.

"I'm Liliandil, daughter of Ramandu. I am your guide." Liliandil explained further.

"You're a star?" Caspian asked her, and she nodded in response. "You are most beautiful." he continued.

"If it is a distraction for you, I can change form," Liliandil said worried that it might distract him.

"No!" he nearly shouted in disapproval. Annette and Lucy exchanged looks and rolled their eyes.

Liliandil smiled at Caspian before saying, "The food is for you. There is enough for all at Aslan's Table. Come, help yourselves." to the rest of the crew, who didn't need to be asked twice before digging into the food before them.

"Wait, what happened to them?" Edmund asked, indicating the three sleeping Lords at the end of the table.

"These men were half mad by the time they reached our shores. They threatened violence upon each other. Violence is forbidden at the table of Aslan, so they were sent to sleep." Liliandil told them.

"Will they ever wake?" Lucy asked sadly.

"When all is right." she answered Lucy with a smile. "Come, there is little time," she added before leading them outside. Liliandil led them towards a cliff end that showed them what all of them immediately knew was the Dark Island.

She then turned around to face the others and said, "The magician, Coriarkin, told you of Dark Island?"

"Yes." Caspian answered. Liliandil then said gravely "Before long the evil will be unstoppable."

Caspian continued "He said to break the spell, all seven swords must be laid at Aslan's Table."

"He speaks the truth."

"But we only found six. Do you know where the seventh one is?" Annette questioned, and Liliandil pointed out across the sea to Dark Island.

"In there. You will need great courage." She turned to face them again and said "In Dark Island, not only will you face your greatest temptations, but your darkest fears. On Dark Island, the deepest parts of your heart, the place where you keep your most secret desires or worst fears, can become real."

"Now waste no time." Liliandil said with urgency.

"I hope we meet again." Caspian told her, staring into her eyes.

Liliandil smiled at him and bowed her head. "Goodbye." With that, a great white light surrounded her and she turned back into a star and shot straight back into the sky.

They quickly took off and sailed straight for Dark Island, knowing that this was going to be their most difficult and perhaps most life threatening obstacle yet.

Annette walked alongside Caspian. She pinched his cheeks wiggling it around.

"My older brother is love sick once again!" Annette exclaimed skipping off to the Stone Table.

Caspian scowled at her as Edmund and Lucy tried to hide their laughter.

**Once again REVIEW! The Great Aslan says to REVIEW! ^.^**


End file.
